and what i thought. because you cannot make up what happened. >> c-span programs are available c-span.org, on our homepage and by searching the video library. >> earlier today president trump plan toout his privatize the u.s. air traffic control system. by transportation secretary elaine chao and house transportation committee chair bill shuster of pennsylvania. this is half an hour. >> ladies and gentlemen, former .ecretary of transportation [applause]

>> ladies and gentlemen, the vice president of the united states accompanied by the secretary of transportation. [applause]

leader, chairman, senator cruz, distinguished honoredof congress, guests, on behalf of the first family, welcome to the white house. [applause] and thanks to the leadership of donald trump, welcome erahe beginning of a new for american infrastructure. [applause] since the first day of this administration, president trump been working tirelessly to keep the promises that he made to the american people. our president's been putting jobs and this economy first, rolling back excessive regulations, unleashing american energy, ending unfair trade workings, and he's been with congress to repeal and re place obamacare.

and thanks to president donald back. america is [applause] growing businesses are and investing in america again. more than 600,000 private sector created under this president's leadership and unemployment hasn't been this low for 16 years. but if you haven't already noticed it, the american people elected a builder to be the 45th president of the united states, and this week, starting today, this president will take hisoric steps to keep promise to rebuild america. [applause] replace our crumbling infrastructure, the action the president announces investment,ncourage commerce, and most importantly

action todaymp's will enhance the safety and precision of our air travel in the united states. as i can attest from firsthand experience, having in americae landings is a good thing. >> [laughter] [applause] pence: so in re building america, it is now my high honor and distinct introduce you the president of the united states of america, president donald .rump [applause]

president trump: thank you very much. mike.you, i really appreciate everything .nd i appreciate you being here but i especially want to thank elaine chao, leader you, mccarthy -- thank kevin -- chairman bill shuster -- thank you very much, members of all the congress, many of them here today, for joining us as we enter a great new era in american aviation. [applause]

it's about time, too. you. tell but before discussing our plans modernize air travel, i want to provide an update on our modernize fix and vital services for our veterans, our great, great veterans who we all love. for decades the federal government has struggled to accomplish something that should be very, very simple, seamlessly veteran's medical records from the defense department to the veterans and to the v.a. notecent years it has taken just days or weeks but many records to follow the veteran. problemscaused massive for our veterans. i'm very proud to say that we to finally taking steps solve the situation once and for

all. secretary shulkin announced this the v.a. will modernize its medical records to as the same system department of defense. no more complications. records will now be able to follow the veteran when they faster,rvice, meaning better, and far better quality care. [applause] .hank you this is one of the biggest wins veterans in decades. i congratulate secretary shulkin for making this very, very important decision. thank you, secretary. appreciate it. it.preciate

he's done a great job. [applause] stand up, secretary. where is secretary shulkin? what a great job. thank you. it.ourse there is still he's done much work to do but for today's shows the determined leadership and what it can .ccomplish, great, great reform so, again, a very, very special thank you. is truly wonderful, really so importantform, for our veterans but it's just the beginning. we're leer today to discuss another issue -- here today to hasuss another issue that gone unsolved for -- far too long. for too many years our country tolerated unacceptable delays at the airport, long wait times on the tarmac and the slowing of that costsd travel us billions and billions of in lost hours and lost

dollars themselves. to take're proposing american air travel into the finally. finally. [applause] finally. time. we're proposing reduced wait times, increased route , and far fewer delays youplan will get you where need to go more quickly, more affordably.re and, yes, for the first time in . long time, on time we will launch this air travel modernizing the outdated system of air traffic control. it's about time. [applause] since the early days of

commercial air service, the federal government has owned and operated the united states air yet moreontrol system than a half a century later the using muchis still of the exact same outdated .echnology at a time when every passenger has g.p.s. technology in their our air traffic control system still runs on radar and ground-based radio systems that they don't even make anymore. fix anymore.en and many controllers must use paper to track our thousands and thousands of in the air.are up our air traffic control system roughlygned when 100,000 people flew at our airports each year. approaching nearly 1 billion passengers annually. system cannot keep

up, hasn't been able to keep up years.y it causes flight delays and costling inefficiencyies, ing our economy as much as year inion a economic [indiscernible]. ourive in a modern age yet air traffic control system is painfully in the past. the f.a.a. has been trying to air trafficnation's control system for a long period but after billions and spentns of tax dollars and the many years of delays, stuck with an ,ncient, broken, antiquated horrible system that doesn't work. other than that it's quite good. president trump: the previous administration $7 billion trying to

and totallysystem failed. honestly, they didn't know what doing.l they were a total waste of money, $7 billion plus, plus. .t's time to join the future that is why i'm proposing new principles to congress for air control reform, making flights quicker, safer, and more reliable. crucially these reforms are supported by air traffic controllers themselves. the are the one that know systems that they want. they know it better than anybody . have people that don't even call them. in the past. them.w we call i'm also proud to be joined today by passenger advocates, , and leaders of airlines and cargo companies who our new support framework and our bidding .rocess and we're bidding ideally to one

great company. many bids.be but one great company that can piece it all together, not many companies all over the united states like in the past. when it came time piece it together, it didn't work. they were all different systems. we threw away billions and billions of dollars. grateful that every former f.a.a. chief and chief and threeofficers former transportation secretar burnley, elizabeth dole, and mary pierce stand with us today. thank you. [applause] incredible coalition for change all over the room. for change.tion the leaders of the industry. core our new plan will dramatically improve america's

traffic control system by turn ing it over to a self- financing, nonprofit organization. not needentity will taxpayer money. which is very shocking when people hear that. that too often. under this new plan the federal aviation administration will focus firmly on what it does best, safety, a separate nonprofit entity would be charg ed with ensuring route timely service, and a long-awaited reduction in .elays our plan will also maintain support for rural communities airports, including airfields used by our air units, greatd people. and very importantly, air traffic controllers will highly -- and this will be high ly valued. highly valued people. these are amazing people that know this system so well. under our plan they will have more financial security,

professional opportunity, and far superior equipment the best anywhere in the world. they will never be anything like what we are doing. and other systems are very good. i won't tell you the names of the country but we have studied countries, one in particular. they have a very, very good system. is going to top it by a lot our incredible air traffic safe every keep us day even though they are forced outdatedis badly system. that is why we want to give them to capital markets and investors so they can obtain the safestewest, and technology available. and by the way, the new it, isogy, and i've seen incredible. changes,pt these americans can look forward to cheaper, faster, and safer where 20% of ae ticket price doesn't go to the government, and where you don't

tarmac ort on a circle for hours and hours over an airport, which is very also, before you land. have alreadyntries made similar changes with terrific resultses. we're going to top them actually by a long shot. is an example, modernized their air traffic control through a non-government organization about 20 years ago and they have cut costs significantly, adopted cutting-edge technology, and 50% more traffic and actually far more than that on a basis compared to us. traffic control system will make life better for all americans who travel, ship, .r fly it will reduce costs and everyse convenience for american consumer. and these new efficiencies will

produce a huge economic boost country. and for the one in 14 american aviation supports. taking the first important step to clearing the way for more jobs, lower prices, and much, much, much better transportation. america is the nation that pioneered arizona travel -- air travel. and with these reforms we can the way, farad into the future,. our nation will move faster, fly higher, and soar proudly towards great chapter of american aviation. thank you. .od bless you and god bless the united states of america. thank you. thank you very much. [applause] thank you. [captions copyright national cable satellite corp. 2017] [captioning performed by the national captioning institute,

which is responsible for its caption content and accuracy. visit ncicap.org]

>> thank you, mr. president, for your leadership. this is, indeed, a historic day aviation in the united states. the bold reforms that are out lined today will usher in a of enhanced safety and performance in the skies and spur the adoption of state-of-the-art air traffic control technology. let me repeat that. bold reforms outlined today ofl usher in a new era enhanced safety and performance skies and spur the adoption of state-of-the-art air .raffic control technology the administration, as you have heard, consulted with a wide oure of stakeholders in country's aviation system, passenger advocates, pilots, air , aviationntrollers experts, airport managers, and .thers and we will continue to work with them as this proposal moves forward. these reforms will benefit asryone who flies, as well

the hard-working air traffic controllers who operate the .ystem as you know, safety is number one. reforms will accelerate the deployment of new air thatic control technology is critical to managing the airspace with more re safety., enhancing passengers will benefit because these reforms will speed up the new technology that will reduce delays and improve thend passengers' quality of life. heardny times have we families on vacation, working moms and dads who are trying -- are on travel trying to get home, students flying home from college, can't always depend on the current system to get them where they need to go on time. system.to improve the

air traffic controllers will benefit because these reforms will ensure that they have the most up-to-date tools and technology. we want to give a shout-out to these dedicated professionals in the world.st [applause] real true heroes, keep ing the flying public safe every day. now, separating air traffic tape androm the red the budget uncertainties of the current system will end the cycle of delay and disruption that has not served them well. new entity will be a coop organization where all surpluses will be plow ed back to be reinvested in the system. operatinguntries are

safely their airspace in similar structures where the air traffic is an independent entity, freed from the restraints of government procurement regulations. and best of all, our country will benefit because these re will ensure that the united states remains the world aviation, an industry that we pioneered. cannot think of a better person to speak to this issue than someone who has had the vision and the foresight, who has steadfastly looked out for of the traveling public and who has made this one of his top priorities. am so honored to be here to bill shuster,rman a visionary leader who is spearheading reform efforts in

congress. [applause] chairman shuster: thank you. i want to also thank the his leadership and in changing the way america operates. i especially want to thank the president for his leadership on this issue, focusing on the need to improve america's infra structure but also f.a.a. into ahe modern system. this is going to take -- it always needed presidential lead ership, and so donald trump, president trump, has stepped up can't thank him enough for that leadership. i want to commend him for challenging the old ways of thinking in washington. innovative thinking, not bureaucracy is what defines the spirit. innovative thinking is what allowed america to pioneer the aation ever since kitty hawk. complacency is innovation's

greatest threat. empowers the status quo and allows our competitors to gain advantage. to continuelow that to happen with aviation in america. airspace insafest the world but it's inefficiently operated and wastes billionsing billions of taxpayer dollars , as the president mentioned, $7 billion in the last administration but over the last 40 years $50 billion have been spent on this effort and we've gotten very little for it. while as mentioned, secretary ciao mentioned, other countries now have aviation systems that feature the most modern technology. air traffic controllers still have to manage with paper strips now, when that's mentioned, everybody says, what are you talking about? strips i'mhe paper talking about. this is what they use in the control towers across america today. you fly in, they get a paper strip. it goes from one control tore the other control tore another controller until the plane comes in on the ground and up. this is a technology we use. if you go to these other countr ies, to the tower in toronto or the tower in heathrow or the tower in hong kong, it's

electronically. they have modern systems. trafficow that our controllers, the union that represents them, knows that they are far behind these other countries with these systems. so it is about time. that our aviation system moves century.21st it was in the fall of 2014, to trump when i went tower to talk to donald trump about my idea about my plan for aviation. his response was clear. that was back in the fall of candidatere he was trump. and he said something to the effect that it doesn't need to government, it shouldn't be in government. and so that's the spirit we have here today. reforms separates the regulator from the operator, which was mentioned over 60 countries in the world have done it. government. as secretary chao mentioned profits a not for organization, independent of the government, operated, controlled of theerned by the users system. and as secretary chao said, it will look much look a coop.

the reforms, more depend able systems, departures, rifles, more direct routes, fuel savings, less time waiting on the tarmac, all of these along with continuing to have the safest systems in the world. and the government will continue to regulate the safety of the airspace and the manufacturing of aircraft, which we're falling regulatoryuse of the burdens that the f.a.a. places on our manufacturers. improvform is all about ing our aviation system .or all of its users the general aviation community, the flying public, the airports, and most importantly, the american taxpayer. it's about recapturing america's the field spirit in of transportation that we invent ed. we want to continue o lead. day in a significant history. first of all, it's my daughter's birthday, so. >> [laughter] [applause] shuster: you never get an opportunity like this. happy birthday, alley shuster. you.e

it's also an important day in history because this was the day reagans ago ronald passed away. it brought me to mind of a famous quote he used. the solution not to the problem. government is the problem. today very fitting for because for far too long government bureaucracy and add,ess, and congress i'll has held back innovation in american aviation. and with president trump's lead get this done thank you, mr. president. thank you for having me here today. that, i get to introduce the next speaker. and if i ever get in a fight, i my foxhole. the director of the national economic council. [applause] >> thank you all for joining us here this morning, i guess this now.noon by special thanks to secretary chao and your leadership on this real leaderrtant topic,

mccarthy, thank you, chairman shuster, thank you for your lead ership on this topic, and other members of congress for being here today. thank you very much. this is very important to have you here and have your support process.his especially thank you to the former d.o.t. secretary for showing hownd important this issue is to the american public and your involve ment means a lot to us. much for beingry here today. the white house with president trump's leadership is very this important step forward in improving air traffic control in this country, which will bring enormous benefits to the public. we're going to improve our already excellent safety record. access tog to protect all user. we're going to speedily technology, which is something we are a great driver of in this country and we need to use our own technology. flexibility for new users in airspace. we look forward to continued this room everyone in we look forward to working together to implement this as quickly as we can. this is great for america. great for consumers. it's great for everyone. so we're very excited to get to implementation.

thank you again for being here. have is a great day. [applause] thursday, james comey .estifies

the committee will first hold an open session at 10:00 a.m. a closedfollowed by session. you can watch the open hearing live thursday, 10:00 a.m. c-span3.n you can also watch it on line at c-span.org or listen on the c-span radio app. >> next here on c-span, this year's commencement addresses from college and universities the country. we'll hear from hillary clinton, president trump, senator bernie sanders, congresswoman mia love, former acting attorney general c.e.o. meg whitman and the director of the national institutes of health, francis .ollins we start with hillary clinton who delivered the commencement her alma mater, else withly college, where she was the first student commencement 1969.r in [cheers and applause]